Comments on: Ugly Mugs No. 2: Under the Radar (Vintage 1976 Burns Flyte Electric Guitar)

By: Chris Buglass

Chris Buglass — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:12:49 +0000

I,m looking for a good burns flyte guitar I used to have a beer with Jim in the County in South Shields where he brought the flyte prototype and asked me how it was It was fab and so was he Feel like its part of my history need one to close my circle Cab you help ?

By: David

David — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 15:24:22 +0000

Hi James Veti,

You don’t have a cover for the pickups do you?

Thanks

By: David

David — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 15:20:41 +0000

I bought one from a guitar shop in Bradford in the early nineties. It was and still is a little battered! It’s missing the metal plate for one the humbuster pickups and a little bit of the Flyte logo. I have a feeling it may be a prototype as it is slightly different to every other picture I’ve seen of them, but only slightly.

By: James Veti

James Veti — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 19:25:03 +0000

i have just rediscovered someones holy grail whilst exploring my loft… stored for 40 years in the dry…
Unused unplayed BURNS FLYDE BASS.. bare body and neck. I know I bought it with plans I never got around to in the late 1970s Burns factory closure sale…
Might be tempted to sell for a decent price now.Can supply photos to serious enquries.. postcode SR67SG

By: John Fannon

John Fannon — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 15:16:35 +0000

Hello Jveti,

Do you have a black scratchplate for a Burns Flyte ?

Also – what other spares do you have please ?

John

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 10 May 2018 11:15:43 +0000

you can email me at… jamiestovell@tiscali.co.uk

thx
J

By: Jamie

Jamie — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 07:38:22 +0000

Hi, any news on those Flyte parts at all?
Thanks
J

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 09:56:49 +0000

Hi jveti,

I’d be interested to have a list of Flyte spares you have.

Gotta love Jim Burns. Certainly a unique talent.

Thanks
J

By: jveti

jveti — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 20:51:50 +0000

I still have a few burns flyde original unused spares…if anyone is really interested.

By: Jeff D

Jeff D — Sun, 14 Jan 2018 10:00:21 +0000

I remember the final closing down auction at the Burns workshop in Washington (just south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne). Most of the parts needed to make a Burns Flyte guitar (i.e. body, neck, pickups, machine heads, custom bag, etc.) were sold off, bag by bag. I paid £15 for my bag. I took the bag to a Newcastle guitar shop and asked them to put it all together for me, using Gibson parts where parts were missing (i.e. switches, bridge, some electronics). That cost about £30. So the entire guitar cost me about £45 all in. And it was absolutely beautiful. That guitar followed me all over the country and, during a brief period of poverty, I reluctantly sold it on eBay for about £450. How I wish I still had it. But I’ve held off on replacing it with another. I think it was the combination of Burns and Gibson parts, all put together by someone with a love for electronics, that made it sound so good. I often wonder what it’s doing now.

By: Tex von Kwiatkowski

Tex von Kwiatkowski — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 00:36:00 +0000

I had this beauty in silver from 84 till 97 and still regret bitterly that I have given it away. Forget the design or shape, this gat is a player. For such a low weight guitar a great sound, the humbusters worked perfectly and action and playing ability was superb. I owe every guitar, musicians are dreaming off because I can afford it but this little Burns has its place in the front row ( if it still would be with me)

By: Phil B

Phil B — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 17:24:48 +0000

When i was very young and had caliper on my bad leg I used to hang about in the Burns UK factory located at the back of Westoe Rd near the bottom of Roberts St South Shields where my great grandmother lived, my late father would be soldering up the Burns Flyte guitars on his own solder station (they didnt have one at the time?)I had a Flyte built up with unfinished reject parts and yes it had cardboard under the heel to bring the neck up, that guitar was unplayable and no good for learning and playing sitting down so was traded in to a second hand shop for two old acoustics which were much better for my needs at the time, very fond memories of Jim Burns and the the guy who was spraying the bodies who took the time to explain to me what he was doing. Many years later while working as the relief manager of the Stags Head pub in South Shields I was loaned a real Burns Flyte by Mr Michael Minchella a musician from a well known ice cream manufacturing family in the town and I still found it a dog of a guitar to play. Glad to see they still have some interest and a very healthy collectable price!

By: John Fannon

John Fannon — Sat, 07 Jan 2017 08:21:45 +0000

Hi guys.
I have a Flyte similar to the one in the photo – but with a maple neck and it is a fantastic guitar. I have owned it since 1977.. No other guitar plays anything like it. I even have an angry note in the case from Jim Burns to the previous owner and informing him that there is nothing wrong with the intonation, it is simply rusty old strings that were causing the problem. If anyone wants any info on the guitar, feel free to contact me on : john.fannon@yahoo.co.uk
I have a real soft spot for this special guitar – if you get the chance of one, snap it up !

By: John Baker

John Baker — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 21:39:52 +0000

Hello Simon B and Johnno.
I am doing some research for a Museum Exhibition at Auckland Museum.
I need to locate a white Flyte guitar
The exhibit is in New Zealand.
Could I give either of you a call ?
My email address piecartrockandroll@gmail.com
I can let you know more details
JB

By: Kenn Gordon

Kenn Gordon — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 19:57:40 +0000

back in 1976 I was playing in a rock band in Cambridge (I was actually in the Royal Air Force at the time) and I was a regular customer at Ray Smith’s Music in Norwich. I bought a beautiful Peppermint sunburst Burns Flyte 6 bearing the serial number 001. However I only owned the Guitar for a few weeks before it was stolen. It resurfaced in the mid 1980’s in an advert in the “Exchange & Mart” it was for sale in a music shop in Swansea. I immediately called the shop and arranged to travel from Lincoln to Swansea. I told the shop that I had proof that the guitar was mine and had been reported stolen in 1976. When I got to the shop the guy said “Sorry Mate I just sold it for cash” back then you never had to prove sales I have never seen it surface since then. To be quite honest it played like a dog and the pickups were crap. BUT it was the coolest guitar you could get back then

By: Simon B

Simon B — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 21:30:12 +0000

I bought one of these a while back, but the frets were like a ploughed field, the neck concave, the metal binding half gone and the truss rod seized. I recently acquired a new neck (un-used ex-factory genuine). Imagine my surprise on removing the old neck to find a chunk of cardboard packing it out below the body end fixing screws, so the neck tilted back miles. I’ve lowered the bridge, the pick ups as much as possible, but this still will not work. Has anyone else experienced this? Was it a design flaw with the “Dynamic Tension” bridge thingy?

By: Jonno Edwards

Jonno Edwards — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 22:04:38 +0000

LONG LIVE THE FLYTE
The Burns Flyte was the first guitar I lusted after in the mid 70s and contrary to the opinion of others, I think the shape and styling are very beautiful and highly innovative for that time. If you hold one up above you almost horizontally, you can see the headstock has a droop nose effect exactly like Concorde! I am currently rebuilding one that had been brutally butchered over the decades, and it will be my take on the original – some restyling to conceal the butchery that had taken place, and a few modern features such as a built in tuner (the N-tune), luminescent side dot markers on the neck, some pretty potent toaster style humbuckers , a kill switch and an original Concorde metal Decal on the headstock as given to Air France Crew members back in the day 🙂
I can’t wait to get it finished… just waiting for the new finish (high gloss silver) to harden before final polishing and assembly.
Phoenix-like my Flyte will arise once more…

By: Bob Wilson

Bob Wilson — Wed, 20 May 2015 15:16:48 +0000

This body shape lived-on in a way in the Switch Vibracell “Futura / Revolution” models. See these pics: http://www.mikelombardi.net/guitar/fireo.jpg and https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/a_exif,c_limit,f_auto,fl_progressive,h_620,q_75,w_620/v1428132543/u902ul3wgzhuvj4jwygn.jpg

By: Kirk Bolas

Kirk Bolas — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:38:38 +0000

I actually kind of like the looks of the guitar. It’s futuristic and traditional in one stroke. I think surrealistic is a good description. There is something almost seventy-ish Gibson about this guitar in some respects, referring to some of the visual elements that a few axes that Gibson turned out in the early to middle years of that decade. I might see if I can score one of these at a reasonable price. I can’t imagine that it sounds hideous, but perhaps different.

By: Ray Schoch

Ray Schoch — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 17:05:40 +0000

I like the headstock, the shape of the pickups, and the bridge looks decent in low-res. The body? Ewwww… No, thank you.